Last season, Giants cornerback Dru Phillips delivered a hit on Cowboys wideout CeeDee Lamb that left Lamb with a shoulder injury. As the two teams prepare to meet for the first time in 2025, Lamb made it clear he hasn’t forgotten.
Lamb enters Week 2 with plenty of motivation — not only his grudge against Phillips, but also the sting of his costly drops in Dallas’ Week 1 loss to the Eagles. Despite recording 110 yards on seven receptions, his four drops played a major role in the Cowboys falling short of upsetting the defending Super Bowl champions.
Phillips, meanwhile, wasn’t heavily tested by the Commanders in New York’s opener, finishing with four tackles and no passes defended. Against Dallas, however, he’ll be up against a fired-up Lamb with payback on his mind. “He tackled me and hurt me, so I got something for him for sure,” Lamb said when asked about facing Phillips again.
A Good Start For Giants Defense
The Giants’ defense rose to the challenge in Week 1, holding a dynamic Washington Commanders offense to just 21 points. While the stat sheet may not tell the whole story, their red-zone execution kept Washington in check throughout the game.
Linebacker Bobby Okereke set the tone with 16 tackles, followed by Javon Holland with eight and Paulson Adebo with seven.
Coming into the year, ESPN’s Mike Clay ranked New York’s defense fourth-best in the NFL. The offseason additions of Holland and Adebo in free agency, along with first-round pick Abdul Carter, further strengthened a unit that already looked formidable.
The defensive front — featuring Okereke, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Dexter Lawrence, and Brian Burns even before Carter arrived — is one of the most talented groups in football.
Fans are already clamoring for more of Carter, who played about half the defensive snaps in the opener and tallied half a sack along with four pressures. His potential is evident, and increasing his role against a shaky Cowboys offensive line seems like a logical next step.
Is Jaxson Dart’s Time Coming Sooner Than Later
Russell Wilson struggled mightily in the Week 1 loss to the Commanders, completing fewer than half his passes and finishing with just 168 yards through the air. That poor outing has already fueled calls for the Giants to turn to rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart sooner rather than later.
Dart, taken in the first round of April’s NFL Draft alongside linebacker Abdul Carter, was a star at Ole Miss. In his senior season, he completed 69.3 percent of his throws for 4,279 yards and 29 touchdowns, showcasing the kind of production that made him a first-round pick.
The bigger question is why Wilson is starting at all. The Giants are still in the middle of a rebuild, with a top-tier defense and a true No. 1 wideout in Malik Nabers. Even if Wilson has a bounce-back year, he’s not a long-term answer as he nears the end of his career. Playing Dart now would give New York the chance to evaluate whether he’s their franchise quarterback. The longer they wait to find out, the more difficult it will be to plan for the future if Dart doesn’t pan out as QB1.